Difference between revisions 510755 and 510825 on enwiki

The term ''Axis of Medieval'' is used, half jokingly, to describe the United States, Syria, Iran and other countries blocking [[humanitarian]] moves in the United Nations. The US under the "Christian Right" leader George W Bush cut of $34M in funding for the United Nations population Fund, due to concerns that some of the money was used to fund abortions. The US also blocked moves to demobilise child soldiers in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it refuses to ratify.

=== External Links ===
* [http://www.oneworld.net/ips2/jan98/child_soldiers.html Refers to Axis of Medieval in de funding population project] 
* [http://www.stormpages.com/sammy369/THEpeopleleaders2.html US blocking action on child soldiers<table border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width=300>
<tr><td colspan="2" align="center">(add image here)</td></tr>
<tr><th style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;">'''Career'''</th><th style="background:navy;align:right;">[[image:usnjack.png|USN Jack]]  [[image:rnensign.png|Royal Navy Ensign]]</th></tr>
<tr><td>Laid down:</td><td>[[21 May]] [[1943]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Launched:</td><td>[[8 November]] [[1943]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Commissioned ''(RN)'':</td><td>[[5 February]] [[1944]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Decommissioned:</td><td>[[12 March]] [[1946]]</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fate:</td><td>merchant ship</td></tr>
<tr><th colspan="2" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy  no-repeat scroll top left;">'''General Characteristics'''</th></tr>
<tr><td>Displacement:</td><td>7,800 tons</td></tr>
<tr><td>Length:</td><td>495' 8"</td></tr>
<tr><td>Beam:</td><td>69' 6"</td></tr>
<tr><td>Draft:</td><td>26'</td></tr>
<tr><td>Speed:</td><td>17.5 knots</td></tr>
<tr><td>Complement:</td><td>890 officers and men</td></tr>
<tr><td>Armament:</td><td>2 x 5-inch guns, 4 x twin 40mm Bofors, 10 x single 20mm Oerlikon</td></tr>
<tr><td>Aircraft:</td><td>28</td></tr>
</table>

The '''USS ''Willapa'' (CVE-53)''' (originally '''AVG-53''' then later '''ACV-53'''), a ''Ruler''-class [[escort aircraft carrier]] (originally an auxiliary aircraft carrier) in the [[United States Navy]], leased to the [[United Kingdom]].

''Willapa'' was laid down on [[21 May]] [[1943]] at [[Seattle, Washington]], by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co. and reclassified '''CVE-53''' on [[10 June]] 1943.  Launched on [[8 November]] 1943, the ship was transferred under [[lend-lease]] to the [[Royal Navy]] on [[5 February]] [[1944]] to be manned by a Canadian crew.  

Renamed '''HMS ''Puncher'' (D79)''', the carrier served the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] for the duration of hostilities, mainly in a training role.

Decommissioned on [[16 February]] [[1946]] at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], and returned to American custody on that day, the escort carrier was struck from the [[Navy Registry]] on [[12 March]] 1946, having never seen active service with the [[United States Navy]].

Initially sold to William B. St. John, of [[New York City]], on [[9 January]] [[1947]], the carrier was subsequently resold to a British firm on [[4 February]] 1947 and converted for mercantile service.  She later served successively as ''Muncaster Castle'', ''Bardic'' and ''Ben Nevis'' until she was scrapped in [[Taiwan]] in [[1973]].

{{Bogue_class_escort_carrier}}

[[Category:World War II American escort aircraft carriers|Willapa]]